Ordinance No._____- 2012 AN ORDINANCE ... - San Juan County

Habitat
Bluff Backed
Beaches
Critical Salt
Water
Habitats
Garry oak
(Quercus
garryana)
woodlands
and savannas
Herbaceous
Balds and
Bluffs
Pocket
Beaches
Includes erosional depositional beaches at the base sediment
bluffs, sediment-covered rock beaches, and seeps/small streams
that enter beaches via a bluff rather than via a pronounced stream
valley. Bluff backed beaches do not form lagoons (though they
may be a sediment source to barrier beaches that do form lagoons).
Includes kelp beds; eelgrass beds; spawning and holding areas for
forage fish including herring, smelt and sandlance; subsistence,
commercial and recreational shellfish beds; mudflats; intertidal
habitats with vascular plants; and areas with which priority species
have a primary association.
Garry oak is a type of Oregon White Oak found in warmer, drier
areas within the Puget Sound and southern British Columbia. They
are associated with what is becoming an increasingly rare
ecosystem that supports a variety of rare wildflowers, butterflies
(such as the Duskywing (Erynnis propertius)) and other plants and
animals. Garry oak ecosystems are highly varied and are found in
areas with rock outcrops, coastal bluffs, maritime meadows, and
treeless grasslands as well as seasonal wetlands, and are sometimes
found in mixed stands with other trees including arbutus and
Douglas fir. Acorns from the oaks provide a key food for many
birds, and other wildlife. Areas in the County that contain Garry
oak include English Camp, Cady Mountain, San Juan Valley, the
west side of San Juan Island, Point Disney, Turtleback Mountain,
West Sound.
Herbaceous Balds and Bluffs. These are native plant areas located
on shallow soils over bedrock, often on steep, exposed slopes with
few trees. They support grasses, herbaceous plants, dwarf shrubs,
Brittle prickly pear cactus, mosses and lichens that are adapted for
survival on shallow soils amid seasonally dry conditions. Trees
that may be present include Douglas fir, Pacific madrone, and
Garry oak. In San Juan County this habitat supports many plant
species that are rare or that grow in few other land cover types.
They are the preferred habitat of the Taylor’s Checkerspot
butterfly, which is a listed species. Information on the plants
associated with herbaceous balds and bluffs can be found at
http://www1.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/communities/pdf/balds_veg.
pdf.
Beaches that are contained between two bedrock headlands that
essentially functions as a closed system in terms of littoral
sediment transport. Pocket beaches do not typically occur within a
drift cell and there is little or no exchange of sediment between a
pocket beach and adjacent shores. They can be found waterward of
a rocky bank or cliff, or they may form barriers, sometimes
partially or completely isolating a back‐barrier lagoon or wetland.
Pocket beaches are typically swash aligned, or oriented
perpendicular to the direction of predominant wave approach.
They are relatively short in length, as compared to the length of a
Page 53 of 56
Ord. ____-2012
Minimize and where possible
remove hard shoreline
armoring.
Compliance with the San Juan
County C this code.
Compliance with this codethe
San Juan County Code.
In conjunction with new
development and vegetation
removal, minimize
disturbance of areas with
Garry oak and associated
native grasslands and
wildflowers. Removal of
Douglas fir and other conifers
is encouraged to allow
adequate sunlight for the oak,
grasses and wildflowers. If
disturbance cannot be avoided
mitigate by replanting suitable
areas with Garry oak, native
grasses and wildflowers.
In conjunction with new
development and vegetation
removal, minimize
disturbance of herbaceous
balds and bluffs.
Minimize and where possible
remove hard shoreline
armoring.
Compliance with thishe San
Juan County code code.
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